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Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art | September 6 – October 26

Brew Pub #3: Relanding from Mugwort

The STAG Library (artists Aja Rose Bond & Gabriel Saloman, Vancouver) in collaboration with artist and writer Gina Badger (Toronto), curator cheyanne turions and brewmaster Eric Emery will be launching the 3rd edition of Brew Pub, a journal in the form of a beer whose contents, labeling and other printed and online material constitute the contents of the publication.

This edition explores a relationship with Artemisiavulgaris, commonly known as mugwort, an invasive species which has spread from Eurasia across Canada, flourishing in urban spaces that have been altered by human intervention such as abandoned lots, rail-yards and roadsides. Mugwort has deep roots in indigenous European medicine, relieving fatigue, promoting lucid dreams and acting as an abortifacient. Mugwort also has been used in Gruit beers as a substitute for hops in traditional brewing processes.

Through the development of a beer using wild-crafted mugwort from the city of Toronto, land with which the Huron, Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe people have a long, historic and profound relationship, these artists consider what and how mugwort can teach those exploring the conflictual complexity of settlement. Mugwort can talk to us about taking root in place, connecting with traditions across distances and back in time, and how to cultivate these teachings in the present, renewing our relationship to place and that which grows here.

Brew Pub #3 is being presented as part of the exhibition TBD at the MOCCA

The exhibition titleTBD, most typically used as an acronym for ‘to be determined’, proposes that the definition of a contemporary art gallery is not fixed. TBD exposes the defining factors of contemporary art galleries for scrutiny and examines the institutions’ effects on communities in order to imagine possible futures and new approaches.